Third-Party Sale Puts Product Maker Under N.J.’s Long-Arm Jurisdiction

Applying a liberal reading of the stream-of-commerce doctrine, a divided New Jersey Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that a product liability suit can be pursued against a foreign manufacturer whose only contact with the state is that one of its products was sold in New Jersey through an independent distributor. Judge Helen Hoens called the majority's decision a "radical departure" from established principles of due process, and Judge Rivera-Soto invited the U.S. Supreme Court to accept an appeal and overturn the majority's ruling.